This is a step in the right direction and indeed opens up many possibilities for the class. However, I believe this is nowhere near enough to make all skills and runes useful. Blizzard did not announce that there would be more changes to the class, so it’s safe to assume that these will be the only Barbarian changes in 1.0.4.

Rune Choices

For instance, the vast majority of people who use Frenzy are still going to use the Sidearm rune. The other runes are not being changed, so they cannot really compete. People who use Cleave are still going to use Broad Sweep. People who use Leap are still going to use Iron Impact. The other runes need to be buffed significantly.

Skill Choices

Some skills are still much better than others. Who would take Ground Stomp over Leap or Furious Charge? Who is going to take Threatening Shout over War Cry? We need to make these skills more attractive.

Passive Choices

Even worse, many of the passives are still much better than others. A passive should feel noticeable when you take it.

Good examples:

Pound of Flesh – very noticeable increase in Health Globes and healing from them.